lynda32

Some friends of ours are possibly returning back to the UK for good but want to take there spanish car back with them. Does anyone know if they can do this and also how long can they keep it there for???

big wheels

6 months

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...le/DG_10014623

Or as long as they like if they register it.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...cle/DG_4022583

jdr

They will pay lotsa money to insure it or might not even get it if they are UK residents.
Regular stops by the police till it is re- reg to UK plates, change headlights etc.
Is it really worth it ?

Joe King

Something else worth considering - if they do take it home its resale value will plummet and when they eventually decide to buy a new car they could be seriously out of pocket.

Second-hand cars seem to hold their value much better here so it might be a good idea to see what they could sell it for here and how much the equivalent would cost back home before taking it back to the UK.

scampicat

We took our British but Spanish plated car to the UK for a month and were not stopped by the police once, so this obviously not a problem?

And all you have to do get it British plated is MOT it (which you can do on the chassis number), change the lights (we still have our British ones from when it was matriculated here in Spain), fill in a form and pay a not-too-large fee.

I asked the DVLA a while back about this.

Much easier than the mind crunching bureaucracy they seem to love here in Spain.

Joe King

Sounds like you were re-importing a British car. The OP is talking about taking a Spanish car into the UK, but as you say I can't see the paperwork being as heavy!

onlineamiga

I drove mine back for a visit. Didnt have any prbolems except for 4 customs officers having a good search of it at Dover. 4 of them looking around it everywhere. Wasnt stopped by police once whilst in the UK.
If i was to return to the UK (god forbid) id probably sell my car in Spain, simply because itll be worth more.